You are too loud. Sorry. You spilled your grape juice on the carpet in the room you were not supposed to have drinks in. Sorry. You hurt your brother when you hit him. Sorry. You took that without permission. Sorry. You broke the window. Sorry. You lied to me. Sorry.

The list could go on and on. You probably have similar stories. Your child does something wrong, makes a mistake, either by accident or intention, and then simply says “sorry” to atone for the problem.

It seems like we are always surrounded by people, noise and clutter. A quiet, still moment is all but extinct in most of our daily routines.

Growing up, I had opportunities to be in my church when there were not a whole lot of other people around. What would I do when no one else was around? Run down the halls making weird noises that would generally get dirty looks? Ok, I’ve done that a few times. However, one of my favorite things was to go into the silent, dark sanctuary and sit down at the piano.

I am constantly learning and discovering things in my quest for better communication with my kids. Recently I shared some tips for engaging children in conversations – see Eight Tips for Effectively Communicating With Your Kids. But, before you can have a good conversation with your kids, you have to get a line through to them. You have to get their attention. And sometimes this can be a difficult challenge.

There are so many things that gain the focus of our children – including television, video games and even things that we generally encourage like books and their imaginary world of play. I am all for learning the discipline of focusing on a task at hand; but, when our children are in the middle of these things, it can be almost impossible to engage them in any sort of meaningful conversation.

My wife will tell you that she does not see me get angry very often. In fact, for the first couple of years that she knew me, she says that she did not know I was capable of getting angry. Then, one fateful night, while leading worship, my wife was totally taken by surprise.

As a college student, I led worship for the youth group at my church. It was something that I loved to do. I spent hours preparing music, hauling equipment, rehearsing the band, and doing everything I could think of to lead worship well. But, there was one thing that I didn’t prepare for. I was not ready, nor equipped, for times when others did not engage worship the way that I was planning on.

This particular night of worship started out like most other nights. We played some fun, energetic songs. Everyone seemed to be connecting (from what I saw) and we were moving into a more intimate time of worship. Then, I saw something I didn’t expect… read more

Most of us have heard thoughts like God knows every single one of the hairs on our head (all 140,000 of them) and that God has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. But, do you still find yourself wondering from time to time if God has a purpose for you or if you are in the right place or the right time?

Sometimes it is easy to slip into a mode of wondering if God really spends much time on His plan for us – and it is easy to get discouraged at that point. I was recently reminded of how much God does love us, how well God knows us, and how specific God is when placing us in His plan. Think about this:

I knew Truett Cathy as the founder of one of my favorite restaurants – a chain that can claim the highest quality in terms of business, ethics, food and customer service. I didn’t know that Truett Cathy was so much more than that. Now I do.

Truett Cathy’s book, “It’s Better To Build Boys Than Mend Men”, takes a simple, yet profound look, at the foundations necessary for raising respectable young men (and women) with great integrity and Biblical morals. Cathy begins with taking a look at a fatherless world. He states that “children all around us are growing up without strong positive guidance from their parents, who are busy, distracted, absent, or who choose to be buddies instead of parents to their children.” And, he sets the premise that “God wants to work through you to change the life of a child.” read more

Have you ever gotten that blank stare from your child after you just finished a passionate conversation?

A few days ago, I spent a lot of time trying to help one of my children understand something that I believe to be extremely important. I used eloquent words and well crafted arguments. I felt good about the conversation and excited about how things would change…until I tried to get my child to share the conversation with the rest of the family and I got the blank stare and the infamous words, “I don’t remember what you said.” read more

We know that praying is important. We want our kids to experience life-changing prayer. But how to we teach our kids to pray – especially when we feel a bit lacking in our own prayer life?

The Power of a Praying Kid by Stormie Omartian is a book written for kids and provides a foundation for helping kids address some tough areas of life. An introduction, written for parents, sets the stage telling us that a child’s prayers are just as powerful as an adults because it is all God’s power. Kids just need to know that God is real, will listen, and will answer our prayers. The author also reminds us of Jesus’ heart for children and states that “you never know when you might need a prayer as powerful, pure, and faith-filled as a child’s.”